Stories, analysis, highlights, and everything Yankees from an up & coming sports journalist.

December 2013

We may never know if Jay-Z made the Yankee cap more famous than a Yankee could, but we do know he made Robinson Cano richer than he was before he ever put on a Yankee cap.

As we all know by now, Cano and his rap star agent agreed to a 10-year, $240 million pact with the Seattle Mariners this morning, giving the Pacific Northwest a perennial all-star second baseman while leaving Yankee Universe high and dry in disbelief. The Yankees had made futile efforts to re-sign the studly second baseman, making him a final offer of a seven-year deal worth around $175 million. Seattle dug deeper into its pocket and voila. Cano is a Mariner.

Michael Douglas was right. Greed is good.

Being a homegrown Yankee, and arguably the best product of the Yankee farm system over the last decade or so, it’s a huge blow to the Yankees on a personal level; on a sentimental level. On a professional level, it’s a huge blow, considering Cano is a consistent player, always good for 100 RBIs; he smacks close to 30 homers a year, and the last time he batted under .300 was 2008 (.271).

Losing Cano’s defense is also tragic for the Bronx Bombers, as he’s a durable piece – he’s missed just eight games since 2010. Two Gold Gloves on his ledger also prove the point the Yanks have lost not just a great player, but an outstanding player.

On the Yankees’ side, Cano’s signing with Seattle is only good from a business perspective. They weren’t forced to succumb to his high salary demands, and can use the money to pursue other free agents that can help turn them from an 85-win team into a contender again.

And if you remember back to the 1999 movie For Love of the Game, pitcher Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) was told he was being traded from the Detroit Tigers to the San Francisco Giants at the end of the season. The team owner Gary Wheeler explained,

“Everything’s changed, Billy. The players, the fans, TV rights, arbitrations. It isn’t the same. The game stinks.”

While baseball is and always will be the best game in the world, today – for the Yankee fans who adore Cano – the quote holds true. The game stinks.

Analysis

It’s a shame. Cano was my favorite current player, and the most impactful player on the team over the past three or four years. Losing him doesn’t even seem real.

There have been some solid products of the Yankee farm system these past few years (David Robertson, Brett Gardner) but I don’t think they’ve been as valuable on a daily basis as Cano. I don’t believe there’s been another thoroughbred that has been as clutch as Cano, and his presence will be missed next year.

Do I think Cano is greedy?

Yes, but so are the rest of the players that take big money. So is the rest of the world, in fact. He was offered a sum and a certain amount of years by the Yankees. He was offered a greater sum and more years by the Mariners and chose to go in the direction of money, rather than a full, career legacy in pinstripes.

It’s sad that he didn’t want to stay, because in the past we’ve seen players get offered fat contracts with ridiculous money attached to them – only for them to just plain go where they wanted to go, regardless of money or years.

For example, Cliff Lee.

In the 2010 offseason, both the Yankees and Texas Rangers were prepared to give Lee (a then-free agent) a lot of coin and a lot of time. In the end, however, he chose to go to the Philadelphia Phillies, a team he had already pitched for and enjoyed playing for – and he signed back for less money than the Yanks and Rangers were going to give him.

At the time I (and the rest of Yankees Universe, and the front office, I’m sure) were upset with Lee for holding them up, practically, at the winter meetings. The Yanks held off on talks with other players waiting for Lee to decide what his plan was in terms of choosing a team.

Now, however, I wish Cano had taken a page out of Lee’s book, and had just gone back to the team where he made his name, even if it meant taking a pay cut.

Sometimes I just don’t understand it all. Cano is already a multi-millionaire. If he’s being offered $175 million by the Yankees and $240 million by the Mariners – with millions and millions banked and probably invested properly – what’s the difference? Is another $65 million going to make that much of a difference at the end of your career?

The truth is, Cano could retire today, use 100 dollar bills as toilet paper, and still remain financially secure for the rest of his life.

Bottom line though: his decision was based on money and not legacy. Cano is a goner and there is nothing we can do about it.

But let’s weigh the good with the bad here.

The Good

The Yankees have money to spend now. There are a lot of other free agents on the market and the Yankee brass can go after basically whomever they darn well please.

Four significant free agent agreements (one official signing so far) have already taken place. Just yesterday the Yankees unveiled their new catcher Brian McCann, who is a seven-time all-star and has a lefty swing tailor made for Yankee Stadium. The Yanks also stole one of Boston’s reigning World Series champs, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury. Like McCann, his left-handed swing will likely translate well to the Yankee Stadium short porch. And NOW, literally as I was typing this up, the Yankees have agreed to a three year, $45 million deal with outfielder Carlos Beltran – a switch-hitting power hitter who is as clutch as they come in October. Also coming back is P Hiroki Kuroda, who earned himself a year and $16 million.

Cano didn’t go to a team that poses a threat to the Yankees taking the AL East. Or, really a team that poses any type of threat to the Yankees at all. When you think of the Seattle Mariners, you think of ace starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and nobody else. Now when you think of the Seattle Mariners, you’ll think of Hernandez, Cano…and nobody else. If Cano had gone to Boston or even Baltimore, Detroit, or Texas, I’d be worried.

The insight of Hal Steinbrenner at McCann’s introductory presser yesterday. In his words, the Yankees are shooting for that “189 mark” (trying to keep the payroll under $189 million) but it won’t come at the expense of putting a winning team on the field. He also mentioned the Yankees are not done this winter. There will be more signings, and they could come at really any time – as evidenced by the timing of the Beltran deal tonight.

The Bad

The Yankees have a little bit of a void at second base. They picked up Kelly Johnson, a 20 home run type of guy – but at the same time a .230 batting average type of guy and a “who’s that?” on defense. They’ll need offensive production from the second base spot, as well as good D. They’ll miss Cano in that respect.

Again, the sentimental value of Cano. He was a real Yankee, and he beat feet. His minor league number is even retired by one of his first Yankee teams, the Staten Island Yankees (short season Single-A). What’s better than being a Yankee? Being a Mariner? I don’t know if the teal and navy blue measure up to what the pinstripes mean, but either way Cano was one of us. Now he’s a Mariner. If the Yankees want to seek retribution, they could always retire number 24 in the name of Tino Martinez as a middle finger to Cano. (I know they would never do that, but it’s nice to think about!)

Cano’s age and durability – and how the Yanks might miss it. He is only 31 and obviously has a lot of baseball life left in him. An according signing, Beltran, is 36 (37 on April 24). Cano’s health and durability has never come into question, whereas there will surely be a lot of questions surrounding Beltran’s health and durability. While Ellsbury’s age (30) isn’t a concern, his durability is. Ellsbury’s career has been injury-ravaged, and an eye opening stat came up today: he’s missed 264 of his last 648 regular season games. Ergo, the Yanks know what they had with Cano, but are uncertain with two of their big three free agent agreements thus far this winter.

Too many outfielders, not enough infielders. Now with Beltran in the outfield, there’s Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner, Ichiro, and Vernon Wells (he’s still a Yankee, remember?). Along with the void Cano left, third base could be a question mark, given A-Rod’s situation. Not to mention the Yanks need pitching too.

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Last thoughts

Today was one of the craziest days in recent memory, as far as the Yankees are concerned. I joked on Twitter that the YES Network could make Dec. 6, 2013 into a Yankeeography episode. It’s true. How often is it that a team loses its perennial player and responds the same exact day, hours later as a matter of fact, with a huge free agent agreement?

Not too often, I’d wager.

To Cano, best of luck in Seattle. You’ll be missed.

To Beltran, it’s my hope you stay healthy and durable, and put up power numbers similar to what Cano would have put up for the Yankees in 2014.

And it’s funny. Using the For Love of the Game analogy, Billy Chapel responded to the “the game stinks’ comment with,

“The game doesn’t stink, Mr. Wheeler. It’s a great game.”

When I started typing this, yes the game did stink. Now with a blockbuster free agent agreement – in the middle of completing this very blog post – the Yanks get a power hitter and the game doesn’t stink as much.

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